Karaoke
by BonesEmily1013
Summary: Castle tries to get Beckett to loosen up a bit, but will a harmless night out on the town turn into something more? Might be M later


**Ok my first Castle fic. I'm not sure whether I'm going to able to do any of these characters justice, but I'll give it a shot. **

**I don't own them! I just wish I had Stana's legs!**

"Oh come on Beckett, it'll be fun!"

"Not a chance Castle"

"What's the matter detective? Afraid that you'll attract all the alley cats of New York?" Castle flashed his signature cheeky grin at Beckett while raising an eyebrow.

Beckett looked at him and rolled her eyes. When Castle had asked her to come to a karaoke contest at the Old Haunt she knew that he'd pull every trick in the book to convince her to come until she agreed. It wasn't that she couldn't sing, she just wasn't very comfortable singing in front of an audience.

"It's not that, I just don't like singing in front of lots of people." She sounded vulnerable as she came to the end of her sentence.

"Hey, there won't be that many people. Just me, Espo, Lanie, Ryan, Jenny and maybe the Captain, oh and the poker guys..."

"Castle!" She interrupted his seemingly inexhaustive list

"Alright, alright. You don't have to sing. At least come to see me make a fool of myself..." The puppy dog eyes came out then. She couldn't help but smile at him. He was so good at getting her to agree to things she wouldn't normally dream of. If it had been Lanie or any of the guys she would have told them where to get off, but something about this 10 year old on a sugar rush brought out the carefree side of her. The one that got buried when her mother was murdered.

"Okay..." She conceded.

Castle could barely contain his excitement. Since the Raglan case, getting Beckett to relax had been difficult. She'd started to spiral into obsessive husk of herself that became so involved in cases that she stopped taking care of herself. With Josh out of the picture now, Castle knew she didn't even have 'motorcycle boy' as a distraction. Not that that bothered him so much; it was just the fact that since they'd split, Beckett was isolating herself. He wasn't prepared to watch the woman he loved go back to being distant. Yes he was in love with her. After he and Gina split, Castle had finally admitted to himself that trying to date anyone else was fruitless. He had lost his heart to Katherine Beckett.

"Excellent! I'll pick you up at 7."

"Castle! I'm perfectly capable of driving myself."

"Uh uh. If I let you do that, you won't come. You'll create some sort of womanly emergency."

"Womanly emergency? And what is that exactly?" Kate folded her arms and smirked at him with a raised eyebrow. His imagination never ceased to amuse her.

"I don't know...I don't like to think about it. Just...let me pick you up." He was pleading now.

"Okay, okay. I'll see you at 7." She decided to put him out of his misery; for the moment.

"Thank you! See you then." Castle picked up his jacket and walked towards the elevator.

"Castle!" She called after him and he turned to look at her questioningly.

"What's the dress code?" She asked somewhat shyly. She was already having second thoughts.

Castle grinned as he got into the elevator, "Surprise me."

With that the doors closed and she was left to ponder whether he meant casual or formal. _Oh for heavens sake Kate, get a grip! It's just the Old Haunt. Jeans will be fine._ She inwardly scolded herself. Why was she even bothering to worry about it? It wasn't a date. It was a night out with friends. Alright one of those friends she was convinced she had feelings for but she wasn't going to go there tonight. Since Josh left she knew she'd been distant and everyone had tried to prevent her from disappearing down that familiar black hole. Castle more than most and it was touching, but she couldn't let herself get involved with him like that. She couldn't bear to be another notch in his bedpost. Having said that, since Gina he hadn't mentioned anyone. Maybe he was just getting more discreet. She shrugged to herself and decided to go home and get ready before Castle came to pick her up.

**Ok guys that's you're lot for now. This was supposed to be a one shot, but hey! I hope you enjoyed it. More Castle fun to come.**


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